short films to further the movement toward gender equality in the industry

The Challenge:

To let your short film further the movement toward gender equality in the film industry.

In this industry, women make up only 19 percent of directors, producers and writers. The imbalance between men and women is deeply rooted, and though it has been acknowledged and studied for years, there has been virtually no improvement. Audience Awards is committed to helping fuel the #FemaleLens. If disparity is caused by lack of opportunity, we are hell bent on providing opportunity and exposure to female filmmakers.

If you have an excerpt of a feature film, an existing short film or the desire to make one under seven minutes in length and there’s one or more above-the-line woman (producer, director or writer) involved in production, this challenge is for you. The short can be narrative or documentary and there is no premiere status requirement here.

FESTIVAL SCREENINGS: The top ten jury winning films - five from narrative and five from documentary - will screen at the headlining red carpet event on Saturday night at the Audience Awards Film Festival in North Hollywood on April 8, 2017 at the El Portal Theater. Additionally, the finalist films will screen at the Athena Film Festival and at the High Falls Film Festival in 2017. We will continue to add screening venues for the finalist films throughout the year. 

MENTORSHIP: WFC winning filmmakers will also be matched with top-tier women in the film industry at a mentorship brunch during the festival. Participants include Svetlana Cvetko, award-winning cinematographer; Deniese Davis, COO of ColorCreative.TV; Sarah Halley Finn, casting director; Darrien Michele Gipson, National Director of SAGindie; Moira Griffin, Senior Manager of Diversity Incentives at Sundance Institute; Poppy Hanks, SVP of Development and Production for MACRO; Debbie Liebling, entertainment executive and film producer; Roberta Marie Munroe, award-winning director, producer and author; Lynnette Ramirez, Content Creator and Executive Manager at 51 Minds Entertainment; and Orly Ravid, entertainment attorney and Founder of The Film Collaborative. 

HONOREE: Presentation of the Maverick Award to Ondi Timoner and a conversation on her career with Anne Thompson, Editor-at-Large at Indiewire will be followed by the red carpet premiere of Women’s Film Challenge award-winning short films.

SUBMISSIONS DUE BY

Submissions Closed

VOTING OPENS

Apr 03, 2017 at 8:00am MDT (America/Denver)

VOTING CLOSES

Apr 04, 2017 at 9:00am MDT (America/Denver)

WINNERS ANNOUNCED

Apr 09, 2017 at 12:00pm MDT (America/Denver)

FINAL TEAM AWARDS

Grand Prize (Jury Selection): $15,000 Panavision camera rental package + Sony Electronics Inc. A7S Mark 2 camera and lens ($5,250 value) + Delta Airlines $1,500 Travel Voucher (anytime/anywhere, good for year and no blackout dates.) + a $500 grant towards her Seed&Spark crowdfunding campaign for this or the next project + $2500 cash

Audience Award: Sony Electronics Inc. A7S Mark 2 camera and lens ($5,250 value) + Filmstro soundtrack license worth $1999 for movies with a $1M budget or less + Cinematiq - also gives the winner of the Audience Award a free lifetime license to DCP Transfer Software by Cinematiq.

Juice Award: Tangerine Entertainment will select their favorite narrative and award $500.

POV Documentary Award: POV will select their favorite documentary and award $1,000 + 12-month nonexclusive digital distribution deal with POV.

Kodak Vision Award: If 50% or more of your submission was shot on film, you are eligible for the film award, including $5,000 value in 16mm or 35mm film stock provided by KODAK and a 4K scan of 1,000 feet of any film format (super8mm, 16mm or 35mm) to Pro Res files (retail value $1,250) provided by Pro8mm.

Montana Film Office Choice: Montana Film Office asks for a one-page synopsis of a script in preproduction, from any WFC top 40 finalists, for which financing processes are underway and which could be shot in Montana in order to win a 3-5 day location scouting trip, which includes two plane tickets to MT + lodging. To be used at any time.

GOOD DOCS Mentorship Award: One hour consultation with Sarah Feinbloom, Award-winning documentary filmmaker, Founder and Director at GOOD DOCS.

Final Draft Award: A copy of Final Draft software for each of the 10 finalists ($2,500 value)

Documentors Award: A mentorship with Jillian Spitzmiller ($550 value)

ChromaColor Award: One full color correction in ACES (the Motion Picture Academy's color space, developed to best accommodate digital cinematography) and mastering to HDR and possibly DCI (depending on schedule) of any project up to twenty minutes in duration. The work can be conducted remotely and is subject to some availability caveats ($20k value) provided by ChromaColor.

Honorable Mention: One year Free Membership to The Film Collaborative, including distribution strategy consultation.

ENTRY FEE BREAKDOWN

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Late Deadline:

Mar 19, 2017 11:59pm (America/Denver)

Entry Fee: $60

CATEGORIES IN CAMPAIGN

Narrative

Any short fiction film or excerpt of a feature film seven minutes and under.

PRIZE DESCRIPTION

20 preliminary selections and 5 jury selections move to finals round. All entries will receive a complimentary one-year subscription and 4 training courses from VideoMaker.

View Showcase

Documentary

Any short documentary film or excerpt of a feature film seven minutes and under.

PRIZE DESCRIPTION

20 preliminary selections and 5 jury selections move to finals round. All entries will receive a complimentary one-year subscription and 4 training courses from VideoMaker.

View Showcase